How much do you save?

**tmffv** · 09-26-2008, 11:40 PM

Ok! Found this site a couple of weeks ago and have been lurking ever since, but now I've got a question!

After reading what others have done to reduce their utility bills, it's had me wonder what else I can do to cut out some of the fat in my monthly budget. First I started with the grocery bill, then our a/c usage and seeing the instant savings from those has been really motivating! So now I'm looking into other ways to be more frugal. So since our electric bills has been so high lately, it's the next on my list (though reducing a/c has helped a lot)

What does one save by not using their dryer? Unplugging various electronics and appliances to avoid phantom usuage? Turning down the water heater?

My goal is to reduce our power usuage and I'm ready to start reading that mysterious meter on the side of the house so I can monitor any progress (have NEVER done anything like this before so this is a big step for me.) But I'm also being honest with myself in realizing that I'm not very interested in line drying my laundry if it only saves something like $3 a month to do so. I've gone around and unplugged various items that are rarely used, but what is the savings involved with some of the more used items, especially after the cost of buying powerstrips?

TIA for any responses! Love this site!!!

**nvmommyx6** · 09-26-2008, 11:45 PM

I save $120 amonth by putting up clothes lines and not using the dryer!
I make sure as much as possible is unplugged and/or turned off. When I am here I use the light from the windows not regular lights!
It really does make a huge difference!

**FrugalMomof3** · 09-26-2008, 11:54 PM

I am glad to hear you started unplugging things, this really does help even if only a little in the beginning.

I use candles at night instead of the lights and during the day natural light or if it's a gloomy day than candles during the day, you can find cheap candles at the $1 store, I mean you using them for light, not smell

I also dont line dry but I also dont wash alot of laundry, maybe 1 load a week (there is only 3 of us and we have TONS of clothes).

If you have a dishwasher, run it ONLY when full, that means cramp that baby up with dishes but not too cramped or they wont clean but basically fill all the nooks and crannies up.

You can also save money when washing laundry by using only half the recommended amount of soap, your clothes still come out just as clean AND when using dryer sheets cut them in half use only 1/2 of the sheet you just cut. Thus you use less detergent and double the amount of dryer sheets before having to go buy more.

With the weather changing, I am sure your not using your a/c as much but if you are just turn it down a degree or 2, it will save you money and if you have the energy saver button on it, use it.

**tmffv** · 09-27-2008, 12:29 AM

I save $120 amonth by putting up clothes lines and not using the dryer!

WOW! Is that just from not using the dryer alone, or from a combined effort of other energy saving techniques? My high for the electric bill this year was just under $160, and that was running the a/c pretty heavy. If the other $120 was from using the dryer you can bet I would be out there hanging clothes like a mad woman! Unfortunately, I don't think that to be the case in our situation, lol!

Thanks for the responses so far! I just looked up last months electric bill and it said we averaged 75kilowatts a day for that month (if I read the darn thing right!) At least now I have a starting point to see where we need to work from.

**madhen** · 09-27-2008, 12:46 AM

The other option is to just throw three or four dryer sheets in the dryer and leave them in there for multiple dryings.

I'm not a line dryer, either, but I do dry on low heat and take the items out before they are 100% dry. I wash everything in cold water, and I've never noticed any problem with it. Whites still look nice and white. I have a hose attached to my washer, so instead of sending all that water into the septic, it empties out by my fruit trees, so the water does double duty as irrigation. The phosphorus in the detergent is beneficial to the plants, and I don't use harsh cleaners or bleach (usually). I also stuff the washer full and sometimes throw two loads into the dryer.

In the winter, I try to keep the house warm with the wood stove and just pile on extra clothing. In the summer, I open the windows and hope for the best. If the temp in the house gets above 95F, I may resort to turning on the window A/C unit in the bedroom and then holing up in there until the heat lifts for the night, but mostly, I just deal with it.

**madhen** · 09-27-2008, 12:48 AM

One thing you can do that is free is have your electric company come out and do an energy audit for you. They can go around and tell you where you might have energy leaks. That is how I found out what an energy hog my well is!

**Grandma Lewis** · 09-27-2008, 07:27 AM

According to Michael Bluejay, it cost .33 per load to dry clothes. Of course that will vary depending on your cost per kilowatt.

His website has a wealth of info about electricity, Check it out.
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/dryers.html

**DJ1972** · 09-27-2008, 08:14 AM

This is a good article. http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06dec11c.cfm

**TheRootedNomad** · 09-27-2008, 08:38 AM

The dryer is by far most households biggest electricity eater. While I don't save $120 a month when I line dry, I do save somewhere well over $50 a month when I line dry. (and that was be tracked before the last 2 increases here)

Historically groceries has always been my biggest savings area for us. It simply has the most flexability. The last year or so has been a rough one in this area though.

As for utilities I can say bundling our some of our services has helped cut our bills. (Of corse the reality is that the services that can be bundled really aren't necessities and the biggest money saver would be to cut them off completely,)
We also will switch service providers based on significant price differences.

Small things I do are:
~Unplugging the comp. power strip from the wall
~I have a brick in one toliet tank (its a smaller tank) and a two liter bottle of water in the other toilet.
~We leave our furnace off for as long as we can in the fall/winter
~cold water for all laundry except whites
~share yard waste service costs with my parents (most neighbors are willing to split this seasonal bill)
****For a while my grandmothers neighbor use to let her pay 1/5 of their garbage bill (there were 4 of them) and put her garbage in their can. This meant she paid about $4 a month. It was a tremendous help to her (although they made it sound like it was really helping them) and her garbge is something to the tune of 1 small grocery bag a week. In my opinion this is a great way to save a couple of bucks AND help an older and/or single person out.

**tmffv** · 09-27-2008, 02:24 PM

Thanks for all the responses here! Lots of good info to consider! Well, on my way outside to see if I can figure out the meter

**Domestic Gal** · 09-27-2008, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by tmffv

Thanks for the responses so far! I just looked up last months electric bill and it said we averaged 75kilowatts a day for that month (if I read the darn thing right!) At least now I have a starting point to see where we need to work from.

I have my electric bill here in front of me and from 8-12 to 9-10 we used an average of 24 kilowattsper day. Last year it was 29 so have lowered it some.
So if you are using 75 kilowatts you are using lots of energy somewhere. We did not use the a/c that much but even when we do use it is only about 40 kilowatts a day.
We are a family of 4 here. I have not used my dyer in at least 5 months. Have cfl bulbs in almost every light we have. Have power strips on the computer and tv/dvd. These get turned off ever night and anytime we are gone for more than an hour. I cook with electric also. I do not use the drying cycle on my dishwasher I just open the door when done and let them air dry. I do have a front loader washing machine and use the quick cycle and cold water to wash everything except whites and bedding. I line dry everything. I do about 6-7 loads a week.
I am looking for drying racks now so I do not have to use the dryer this winter to much.
Looks like you have an something that is an energy hog to be using that much energy.
I would read the meter daily for 30 days to see if you can figure out what is using so much energy.
To try and figure out how many kilowatts the dryer uses read the meter wait an hour (or how ever long you run your dryer for) and go read it again, subtract the difference. This is what it is costing to run whatever is running for that hour. Then run your dryer and go read it again and see how many kilowatts difference there is from running the dryer. Subtract 2nd reading from 3rd reading.This should give you a rough estimate of how many kilowatts it takes to run your dryer. Then take your statement amount and divide it by the number of kilowatts used. This will give you the $$ amount per kilowatt. Times that by the number of kilowatts to run the dryer. Take that times the number of loads you do per month and this should be a rough estimate of what it is costing you to run your dryer per month.

Going off the top of my head say it is between .50 and .70 a load. If I take that times the 28 loads a month I do it will be $14 - $19.60 a month. So it is a big savings to me to line dry.

**Starlight9803** · 09-27-2008, 10:37 PM

as for line drying clothes, when I figured it up (several years ago before increases in electric rates) it saved me about $10 a month, but I figure that is $120 a year (more now that prices are higher.) I know that by unplugging things not in use, limiting hot water usage (shorter showers, etc), putting the water heater on a timer, keeping the a/c on 80 and heat on 60, I only spend about $90/month on electric (and my home is all electric, including heat) and MIL, who lives next door and is modest in her electric usage runs close to $200/month. So, theoretically, I save a bit over $100/month all together.

**Springer** · 10-19-2008, 11:27 AM

Haven't been here for awhile and am reading up on electric savings again. As far as the dryer goes, look on the door (on the sticker) and see how many watts your dryer uses. My newer one uses 4300 watts as compared to my old one that was 5600. This is the watts used per hour, so divide by 1000 to get kilowatts. So my dryer uses 4.3 kw/hr times my .10 rate, so it costs me .43 for a load that dries in an hour. My towels take longer than that, so it may be 65 cents for towels etc. This will give you the cost if you watch how long your load takes. I usually walk away, so I don't really know. I hang most stuff all year round anyway. I have a line in the cellar that I can use once the wood stove is on. I may invest in a drying rack for my sunroom this year to do more. I am intrigued by the person who said their well pump took a lot of electricity. I heard you should put in a larger holding tank, because you use the most electricity when the pump starts up. Anyone know about this? My tank is about as round as a basketball and about 2-3 feet high. I think my pump runs an awful lot. Thanks.